


Wyrm Your Way into My Heart

by 44TayLo



Series: Creature Features [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Sex, Blow Jobs, Bruce is a dragon, Exactly What It Says on the Tin, Getting Together, Hulk is a dragon, M/M, Magic, My kink is consent, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:47:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26352919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/44TayLo/pseuds/44TayLo
Summary: “Fire consumed him, singeing his nerves and forcing him to his hands and knees. He sucked in a gasping breath—And then it was overThings came back to focus around him. He could feel the breeze, hear the gentle rustling of nearby plants, and see the ground beneath his hands. He could see his hands. His scaled, clawed hands.”Bruce gets hit with a blast from a magical amulet that turns him into an alien called a “drakaina.” Bruce is less than happy, but Hulk is ecstatic.Hulk is also a great wingman. Pun fully intended.
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Tony Stark
Series: Creature Features [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1914952
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	Wyrm Your Way into My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> I just really like the idea of Bruce becoming different magical creatures. I also wanted to take this opportunity to play around just a bit with the concepts of sex and gender. I tried very, very hard to do so in a respectful manner, and the last thing I want to do is offend anyone. I hope I hit the mark.
> 
> Thanks to dr_zofia_bites for all of your help and input. <3

He didn’t know how it happened. One moment he was assuring himself that his stretchy pants had survived the battle, and the next Steve was yelling his name. Whirling around, he was suddenly hit square in the chest. His breath left him in a rush.

Fire consumed him, singeing his nerves and forcing him to his hands and knees. He sucked in a gasping breath—

And then it was over.

Things came back to focus around him. He could feel the breeze, hear the gentle rustling of nearby plants, and see the ground beneath his hands. He could see his hands. His scaled, clawed hands.

Trembling, he pushed himself to a sitting position. It was harder than it should have been, something that shouldn’t have been there weighing him down. Blood, rushing in time with the frantic pounding of his heart, drowned out all other sound as he brought his hands closer to his face.

Something touched his arm and he jerked. It was something soft and leathery and him. Twisting, he caught a glimpse of a wing glittering purple in the light. The wing fanned out, catching the breeze just enough to pull him off balance.

Flat on his back, he closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing. He wasn’t sure how long he lied there before Tony appeared above him. He was still in the suit, face plate retracted, and staring at him with those wide, brown eyes. Silently, Bruce accepted his outstretched hand.

The walk back to the Quinjet was a blur. There was a mortifying moment where he tripped over his own tail that he didn’t know he had. After that, he focused entirely on keeping his wings tight against his back, his arms crossed over his chest, and his tail directly behind him. The latter of which was incredibly difficult, as his tail was stuffed down his left pant leg. He didn’t want to adjust it, because he didn’t think his pants would cover everything they needed to otherwise.

He did catch snippets of things as they flew. The artifact the villain of the day had been using had let off a blast of some sort when Steve took it from him. Because Bruce’s luck was terrible, it had hit him and done…whatever this was to him.

He ended up in his room at the Tower, somehow. Alone and the shock beginning to wear off, he ventured to the bathroom and stared at his reflection. He wasn’t entirely covered in scales like he’d assumed. Tanned skin peaked out, stark against the dark scales, at the tops of his shoulders. The column of his throat was mostly skin, though it too was dusted with scales. Some were a warmer, brighter purple. There were a few on his face as well, mostly along his jaw and cheek bones. A cluster of both the dark and light scales fanned out from his eyes.

Frowning, he leaned over the sink. This close, he could see the light glinting off of the scales, revealing that the dark ones truly were a deep purple. They’d appeared black without the light, but when they sparkled they were actually kind of…beautiful.

As Bruce took a measured breath, any relief he’d felt at not being covered in demonic, black scales shattered. All of his teeth were pointed. Worse, his tongue was forked.

He forced himself to meet his reflection’s strange eyes. They were the same warm, brown color they’d always been, but they seemed to glow. Or, perhaps, glitter the same way the scales did when they were hit by light.

“Hey.”

Bruce jumped. His wings did something strange, his tail curled unexpectedly behind a foot, and once again he was completely off balance.

Strong hands were steadying him, brushing up against the new appendages on his back, and it actually felt surprisingly nice underneath his mounting panic.

“You’re easily startled,” Tony commented mildly. “Can’t imagine why.”

Bruce snorted a laugh. Heat filled his throat and nostrils, causing him to cough. Flames shot out of his mouth, and Bruce watched, petrified, as his, his, _toxicity_ put Tony at risk. The flames narrowly missed him, no thanks to Bruce.

“Holy shit!” Tony had leaned away in response to the fire, but he hadn’t jumped or dropped Bruce.

Bruce just wanted to shake a sense of self-preservation into Tony and then curl up and die. Instead, he let Tony guide him out of the bathroom and to the edge of his bed.

Black sludge settled in Bruce’s stomach when he realized he was relieved that Tony sat down next to him instead of fleeing. As much as he wanted to ensure Tony’s safety and wallow in his own embarrassment, Tony’s company was always soothing. It was paradoxical, really. Tony was a whirlwind, but Bruce found calm in it.

“Thor took the amulet to Asgard,” Tony explained, apparently unfazed by the fact that he’d almost had his face burned off. “Apparently, drakaina are a real thing. Somehow the amulet turned you into one.” Before Bruce could panic, Tony continued, “Thor thinks his mom might know how to reverse it.”

“Aren’t…aren’t drakaina female?” Bruce vaguely recalled them from Greek mythology. The word itself was the feminine equivalent of drakon.

Tony waved a hand dismissively. “Maybe their race is structured around a matriarchy.”

With an almost sigh (he aborted it, scared he’d breath _fucking fire_ again), he forced himself to take a deep breath and focus on the present. This close, he could see and smell that one of Tony’s eyebrows was singed. He was cradling Tony’s face in his hands before he was conscious of it.

“Well, hey there.”

Bruce ignored Tony’s compulsive flirting. “Your eyebrow—”

“Bruce, it’s fine.” Tony smiled up at him, head quirking minutely in amusement. “Nothing a little makeup can’t fix, I’m sure.”

Gentle hands covered his own and pulled them away. Bruce glanced down, noting his claws with a flash of horror. He’d completely forgotten about them. He could have scratched Tony in his carelessness.

“Pardon me sirs, but Master Odinson has returned,” JARVIS said. “He is en route to Dr. Banner’s floor.”

Bruce’s heart plunged into his stomach.

As if sensing his distress, JARVIS continued, “He appears to have brought a book with him.”

“See?” Tony soothed, wrapping an arm around Bruce’s waist. “It’s all going to be okay.”

Despite Bruce’s brain screaming at him to get away from Tony, who was vulnerable and breakable and _flammable_ , he sunk into Tony’s embrace. He even dared to rest his head against Tony’s shoulder. They’d become increasingly physically affectionate toward one another. Tony was just like that, and Bruce was touch starved and enjoyed Tony’s hugs and pats on the back and his hand stroking through his hair and being the little spoon when they both crashed on the futon in the lab.

Actually, the touches had stopped being strictly platonic a while ago. Bruce was usually better at staying in denial about that particular fact. With everything else going on, though, he had little energy left to allocate toward repressing certain facts.

Tony’s lips brushing against his curls was not helping matters.

“Worst case scenario, you look unbearably sexy until you and I find a cure of our own.”

Bruce spluttered some mix of a gasp, a laugh, and yelp of indignation. Before he could recover enough to say anything, Thor entered the room.

“My mother sends her sympathy, though she says she believes it is unwarranted.” Thor smiled brightly at the pair, unfazed by their display of affection.

Bruce didn’t even bother to pull away from Tony, too exhausted to care. “Why?”

“Few have ever had the honor of joining the ranks of the Dragons,” Thor explained. “Not everyone exposed to the amulet changes.”

“Lucky me,” Bruce muttered dryly.

“However,” Thor continued as if Bruce hadn’t said anything, “without living in the drakaina realm, the changes are impermanent. My mother believes they will abate within the week.”

Bruce sagged against Tony.

“Told you,” Tony said brightly. He rubbed a hand up and down Bruce’s back, grazing where it met his wings.

Bruce, to his horror, let out an inarticulate sound as Tony’s fingers brushed his wings.

As Bruce jerked away, Thor was obviously trying to suppress a laugh. “I will leave you two alone. Here,” he handed a mortified Bruce the book he’d brought with him. “This contains everything Asgard knows about the drakaina.” Without another word, he left.

Awkward silence would have descended if Tony could tolerate silence of any kind. “Sorry about that. I take it I shouldn’t touch your wings, at least, not without consent.”

Bruce put his head in his hand, only to flinch back when a claw dug painfully into exposed skin.

“Okay, Brucie.” Tony’s voice was breathtakingly soft. “Would reading the book make you feel better?”

Bruce just nodded, eyes downcast.

“Do you want to read it alone, or do you want me to stay?”

Touched by the fact Tony was giving him a choice, Bruce forced himself to make eye contact. “Stay? Please?” He felt out of sorts and strange in his body, and it was an incredibly vulnerable state to be in. However, he found himself desperate for comfort, rather than wanting to protect himself through isolation.

Tony cupped his cheek, and Bruce was powerless to stop himself from pushing into it. “Of course.”

Bruce shifted the book in his hands and opened the cover. It must have been enchanted with Allspeak, because the contents appeared to be written in English. The history of the drakaina was interesting objectively, but not what Bruce cared about at the moment (Tony had been right about them being a sort of matriarchy, though there were multiple recognized genders rather than the outdated, binary system Western civilization clung to).

He learned that this frightening, alien race he’d suddenly become an unwitting part of regularly shed their skin like a snake and their forked tongues could taste the air. Much to his dismay, they were obligate carnivores (he tried to eat vegetarian whenever possible). They were also able to breathe fire, as he’d already discovered. They could be a myriad of colors, though red, black, and blue were most common.

If Thor’s mother was wrong and he was like this for long enough to endure the drakaina mating season, he would sprout horns. The mating season typically caused ‘sperm producing’ sexes to sprout horns, while sexes ‘with wombs’ developed a distinct pattern of scales around their eyes. Bruce was curious about the phrasing, but that train of thought halted when he spied the illustration of the scale pattern. It was the exact pattern around his own eyes. His brows furrowed at that. His stretchy pants didn’t exactly leave much to the imagination, so he was positive certain parts of his anatomy hadn’t disappeared. Though, he thought the bulge between his legs was distinctly smaller than normal. Hoping that was just his mind playing tricks on him, he wondered if some things would differ, since he was a human who’d been turned into a drakaina.

There were many drakainian sexes, including what Western civilization would categorize as male and female, as well as three sexes that would be deemed intersex in humans. There was also a sex that had no sex characteristics at all. Apparently, the most common sex was the one that had the ability to ‘produce sperm’ and had a ‘womb,’ and therefore sported both horns and the scale pattern during mating season. It actually made evolutionary sense, since it exponentially increased the race’s ability to reproduce.

Tony began carding a hand through Bruce’s hair as they read. It helped soothe any lingering panic, which in turn helped Bruce focus. Right up until Tony brushed up against something on his scalp. The hand paused, before gently gripping a nub protruding from Bruce’s skull.

Bruce knew what it was before Tony shifted to kneel on the bed and pulled back Bruce’s curls.

“So, you have horns,” Tony said casually.

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose, thankful that there were scales there to protect his skin from his claws. The fact that he was now a sex other than strictly “male” wasn’t what was distressing him. Rather, he was concerned that this meant he was in the midst of the drakainian mating season. The horns weren’t nearly as big as they should be, based on the pictures. Perhaps they were still growing, or maybe he was right the first time and his anatomy was slightly different since he’d originally been human.

Eventually, Bruce sighed and felt his posture relax. He hated not feeling in control of his body, but honestly, things could be worse. He just needed to read about the mating season and what to expect. He flipped to the front, hoping he’d missed a table of contents. There wasn’t one, of course.

“Why don’t we let J digitize this?” Tony suggested. His hand had settled on the small of his back once he’d found the horns, and it moved in soft circles. “Then you can use him to search for specific words.”

While Bruce wanted nothing more than to keep reading, he knew Tony’s suggestion would be more productive in the long run. “Yeah,” he muttered on an exhale.

Tony set everything up before leading them out of the room. Bruce felt steadier, now, but he was still adrift. It took him longer than it should have to notice that Tony kept staring down at his legs. Or, more likely, his tail. Before he could be too embarrassed, Tony met his gaze with a tender smile.

“First order of business, let’s fabricate a pair of pants that fit correctly.”

Well, he couldn’t argue with that. He didn’t end up helping much, though. He struggled to do more than listlessly (and awkwardly, due to his stupid tail) sit next to Tony while he did all of the work.

Something just didn’t feel right. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why. The air-conditioning on his scales felt wrong, almost painful, and the lights were too bright. Even stranger, his toes kept shifting, like he was trying to feel sand between them or something.

Oh. Maybe that was exactly what he was trying to do.

His very bones ached at the thought of visiting Tony’s beach house in Malibu. Warm, warm sand. And there were dark sea caves. With a groan, Bruce--carefully--put his head in his hand while the other wrapped protectively around his stomach.

“Why so glum, Sugar Plum?”

Bruce glanced over at Tony, who was still staring at the program. As soon as machinery whirred to life, Tony turned to look at him properly.

“…Did you call me ‘Sugar Plum’ because I’m purple?”

Grinning, Tony shook his head. “What? No, of course not. That doesn’t sound like me at all.”

Despite himself, Bruce smiled.

“Seriously though, what’s up?”

“I just…” Bruce sighed. “I really want to go to Malibu.”

Tony’s eyes lit up. “That’s the opposite of a problem.”

“I think it’s because of the, uh. Well.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that it’s completely doable and might be fun.”

Bruce just sat there, moping. He didn’t object when Tony pulled him into a side hug, though. Or when began running a hand through his hair again.

By the time several pairs of tail-accommodating stretchy pants were finished, JARVIS had completely scanned and uploaded the book.

Bruce easily caved when Tony ushered him to his private plane. He inwardly cringed at the thought of flying in a private plane and adding so much to his carbon footprint, but it wasn’t like he could be out in public like this. He was relieved they didn’t even need to pack, since the Malibu house was stocked with all the essentials and had access to all of their saved data via JARVIS.

Something about being up high felt right. Bruce couldn’t pry himself away from the window, no matter how hard he tried. Luckily, Tony was more than happy to read out loud from Thor’s book.

“So, behavior doesn’t change during the mating season,” Tony assured.

Bruce just nodded, still staring at the clouds below them.

“It’s not like, some animalistic thing. The only mental affect it seems to have is that it heightens a desire to give gifts to whoever you’re quote un-quote courting. Particularly, gifts that remind you of that person.”

That was enough to break the spell the sky had put him under. Bruce turned to Tony and let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He was going to be in control of himself. Of his body. After struggling against Hulk for so many years and feeling out of control, the idea that he could suddenly be thrust back into a similar situation had petrified him. He and Hulk had a good relationship, now. It’d been hard won. Finally, they both felt stable and secure, and he didn’t want to lose that.

“It looks like drakaina prefer hot, sandy climates and tend to live in caves,” Tony continued. “So that’s probably why you want to go to Malibu.”

He gave a sheepish nod.

Tony continued to read to him, and Bruce allowed himself to stare out the window again. They learned that drakaina could turn into full blown dragons. Bruce wasn’t happy about that, but the book assured that drakaina retained all of their cognitive faculties when they were dragons. Tony, of course, wanted to test it out.

“Hulk dragon!”

Bruce could help but snort a laugh (thankfully, he didn’t breathe fire, this time). He could feel how pleased Hulk felt about the prospect of being a dragon.

Eventually, they both took a nap while JARVIS continued to fly them. Bruce hadn’t actually slept since his transformation, and becoming a drakaina was apparently exhausting. 

It was late by the time they arrived in Malibu. Both Bruce and Tony were drowsy, so they simply collapsed into bed. Bruce distantly wondered how they’d both ended up in the same bed when there were plenty of guest rooms. Maybe it was because they were so used to passing out together on the futon in the lab. Snuggling deeper under the covers, Bruce resolved to worry about it in the morning.

* * *

“I call dibs!”

Bruce grimaced. Clint was so damn loud… With a huff, he tried to roll over and fall back asleep. He realized there was an arm around him--and therefore someone lying next to him—when it pulled him closer and prohibited him from shifting.

Everything came rushing back.

“Tony,” he mumbled, forcing his eyes open. His friend was asleep and facing him. His mouth was slightly open, and Bruce wanted to smack himself because he found the fact that Tony was drooling kind of adorable. He just looked so vulnerable in sleep. There was no mask of confidence or snark.

“We will need food!”

“Mother fucker,” Tony grumbled. He blinked his eyes open, staring at Bruce with furrowed brows. “Why’s Thor yelling?”

Warmth bloomed in Bruce’s chest. Tony wasn’t even questioning the fact that they were in the same bed, basically cuddling.

Shifting into a sitting position, hair adorably mussed, Tony rubbed at his eyes. “Wait, why’s Thor in Malibu?”

“I don’t know, but Clint’s here, too. And if they’re both here, Steve and Natasha are probably with them.”

Tony wiped at his mouth, his nose screwing up adorably as he seemed to realize he’d been drooling. “Ugh. Okay, let’s go investigate.”

Bruce made it out of bed, and then hesitated. He was still sweaty from the fight, having not showered, and, oh yeah, he still looked like an alien dragon.

Of course, Tony noticed. “Come on, Big Guy. Time to strut.” He ran a hand through Bruce’s hair, and for a moment, Bruce almost gave in to relaxing, when he caught Tony staring a second too long at the spot above his head.

Tentatively probing his skull, Bruce easily found one of his horns. He slid his hand up the length of it, surprised to find it was considerably larger than the tiny nub it’d been last night. Any semblance of confidence or normalcy he’d started to cling to fled. Hunching in on himself, he stared down at the ground.

“Brucie, come on,” Tony cajoled. “It’s just the team.”

The team, which he thought of as a strange sort of family that he was terrified of being alienated from. Thor wouldn’t be fazed, sure, but he’d been so consumed by post-transformation fatigue and shock that he didn’t know what the others’ reactions had been. He wondered if Steve would treat him with clunky, well-intentioned placation again. Or if Natasha would fear him. Clint, he was sure, would just crack jokes. That’s how he coped with most emotions, so it was a safe bet.

Instead of airing any of these concerns, Bruce mumbled, “I can’t even wear a shirt.” He winced at how pitiful and stupid that sounded. Still, he was basically parading around in boxers. Why hadn’t he and Tony fabricated some slacks or something? Because they’d assumed it’d just be the two of them, and they were much too comfortable around each other. Bruce sighed.

“Clint walks around in his boxers all the time,” Tony pointed out. “And remember that time Thor was naked in the kitchen?”

Bruce smiled, despite himself. It’d taken Thor a bit of time to get used to Earth etiquette and customs. Apparently, Asgardians were very comfortable with nudity. Especially around shield brothers.

It seemed he was going to have to face everyone eventually. Better to get it over with. “Fine.” It seemed he’d gotten the hang of walking with his new appendages, which was a relief. He didn’t trip over his tail or catch the air with his wings as he and Tony walked out to the living room.

Clint was perched on the back of the couch, flipping through the channels on the enormous flat screen. Sitting normally, Natasha was curled up against the arm of the couch with a book. Both Thor and Steve could be seen in the kitchen just beyond. Thor was methodically opening and closing the cupboards, muttering things that they needed, while Steve presumably wrote them down.

“Hi, boys,” Natasha greeted without looking up.

The others looked over at Tony and Bruce in response.

“Before you ask,” Natasha continued, “Steve got Fury to agree to give us a vacation so we can be here as moral support.”

Blinking, Bruce tried to parse if Natasha was lying. She was still reading, but he thought her expression was softer than normal. I smidge more open. Besides, why would she lie about that?

“That’s…thank you,” Bruce was at a loss for what to say.

“Steve and I are placing a grocery order via JARVIS,” Thor explained from the kitchen. “Do either of you have any requests?”

Bruce’s stomach grumbled. “Potentially.” He shuffled a bit further into the room and stole a grape from the bowl on the coffee table. His tongue flicked out of its own accord, and Bruce wrinkled his nose. It smelled _terrible._ With a sigh, he tossed it towards Clint, who caught it in his mouth with ease.

“Can you make sure there’s meat?” Bruce asked. It came out petulant, and Bruce wrapped his arms around himself in embarrassment.

“Aye,” Thor assured, not questioning why Bruce would want meat when he normally avoided it.

Bruce cautiously sat down on the loveseat, relieved when Tony followed him. Maybe all of that trepidation he’d built up in his head really had been needless. He even managed to sit with minimal trouble from his tail. He mimicked Natasha’s own sitting position so that he was propped against the arm of the loveseat, his legs curled up between himself and Tony.

“So Bruce, how was the D&D convention?” Clint asked.

Bruce just winced.

“Barton!” Tony barked warningly.

“Oof!”

Bruce reopened his eyes in time to see Clint rubbing at his ribs. When he looked at Natasha, however, she’d already returned to her book.

“Are we not joking about it, yet?” Clint asked innocently.

“Not really,” Bruce mumbled, eyes downcast.

“Is there anything we should be worried about?” Steve asked tentatively, hovering near the couches.

Before Bruce could answer, Tony said, “Nope!” He was staring at his phone intently. “JARVIS went through the book and pulled up any information about physical, mental, or emotional changes. Brucie can shift into a full-on dragon, and he might start giving us gifts, but other than that…” Tony shrugged.

Bruce let out a relieved breath.

“Dude, you can turn into a dragon?!” Clint was staring at him with starry eyes. “That’s so—oh my God, Hulk dragon!”

Tony’s face lit up. “That’s what I said!”

 _“Hulk dragon!”_ Hulk cheered along in their head.

Huffing a laugh, Bruce stood from the couch. “Hulk wants to try out the dragon thing.”

Clint and Tony stood up impossibly fast, and the next thing Bruce knew, he was being dragged outside. As soon as the sun hit him, he resisted so he could pause. He closed his eyes and lifted his face towards the sun, toes shifting in the sand.

An arm wrapped around his waist, but he didn’t open his eyes. “We can look for sea caves after this. Sound good?”

Blinking, Bruce smiled brightly at Tony. “Sounds great.”

With that, he let Hulk take over. His final thought before being pushed into the backseat was _“Oh shit, I really hope those pants are dragon-proof.”_

* * *

Hulk smiled as he felt the sun on his skin. He loved sand and sun and warm. He couldn’t take long, though, because he was going to try to be a dragon!

Glittery! His skin was shiny and pretty. He was still green, but there was some light purple like Banner now had.

“Hey, Big Guy!” Tony smiled, and Hulk smiled back.

“Hi, Tony,” Hulk greeted. “Dragon time?”

“Stop, Dragon Time!” Clint declared, before struggling to do what Hulk thought was supposed to be a dance. He tripped in the sand, causing Hulk to laugh.

“How Hulk be dragon?” he asked, once he’d stopped laughing.

Clint sat up in the sand, sputtering. “Yeah, how?”

“Uh…” Tony shrugged. “Look at the sky and think dragon-y thoughts?”

Hulk raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. Tony was usually so smart. Still, Hulk looked up at the sky. He really wanted to fly! Flapping noises made him look over his shoulder. His wings were flapping, and he was actually beginning to lift off the ground!

“How…that’s not aerodynamically possible?!”

Hulk laughed. Silly Tony. Science didn’t explain everything, Hulk should know. Banner said he broke the law of conservative max…or something.

 _“Conservation of mass,”_ Bruce supplied.

Yeah, conservation of mass. Hulk knew that.

“I dunno, maybe it’s like with bees. They’re not supposed to fly, right?”

Hulk could still hear Clint and Tony, even though he was getting pretty high, now!

“Don’t you fucking quote _The Bee Movie_ at me and pretend it’s science,” Tony grumbled. “We do know how bees fly.”

“Oh yeah? How?”

“I don’t know off the top of my head—”

Hulk couldn’t hear anymore; the wind was too loud this high up. Everything looked even punier than normal!

He felt a little shiver in his bones. Burning-tingling started in his chest and extended across the rest of his body, and Hulk knew he was changing into a dragon! He was even _bigger_ now! His claws were even more claw-y, and when he took a deep breath and opened his mouth to let it out, fire appeared!

He flew into the fire and it just felt warm and nice! He decided to let Banner see.

_“Oh, wow!”_

Hulk laughed. Banner was always so scared, even of being a dragon, but he knew he’d like this! No one could catch them up here! No one could hurt them.

 _“We’re safe, now,”_ Bruce reminded him. His voice was soft, and Hulk was surprised to realize Banner actually believed that, this time. He used to tell Hulk that a lot, trying to keep him from coming out, but he could always tell that Banner was lying. This time, he wasn’t.

Safe. They were safe. That was very nice.

Hulk flew around some more, doing loop-de-loops and chasing some seagulls for a while. The seagulls yelled at him, apparently mad. Hulk just grumbled back.

Eventually, he knew he had to go back. He wasn’t tired, not really, but he knew Tony got scared if he or Banner left for a long time. He saw a cave on his way back, though, and stopped to go inside. It was cool and nice, and Hulk was certain he and Banner would be back here sometime. Banner was watching, still, and Hulk could tell the cave felt nice and safe to him, too.

He didn’t stay long, again afraid Tony would get scared. By the time he landed back at the house, he was smaller and less claw-y and not really a whole dragon. He waved at Clint and Tony, who were still outside and waiting for him. He was a little in the water, and something blue caught his eye. Carefully, he picked up a shell.

It was blue like Tony’s heart. He smiled, feeling warm.

 _“It reminds me of Tony, too,”_ Bruce said, and Hulk could tell he wanted to give it to Tony.

“Hey, buddy!” Tony greeted. “That was amazing!”

“So cool!” Clint praised. “Hey, do you think I could fly you?”

Hulk quirked his head. “Like _How to Train Your Dragon_?”

“Yeah, just like that!”

Tony just rolled his eyes.

“Not good idea.” Hulk shook his head. “Too windy. Birdy not strong enough to hang on.”

A snorting-laugh came from Tony, and Hulk grinned toothily as Clint squawked like a seagull and tried to find something to say.

“Hey, what’s that?” Tony was looking at the blue shell.

Hulk carefully held out his hand so Tony could pick it up. “From Banner.”

“Oh.” Tony stared at it for a long moment, before smiling up at Hulk. “Thanks.”

 _“Hulk!”_ Banner protested, but Hulk ignored him.

“Remind Hulk and Banner of Tony’s heart,” Hulk explained. Hulk could hear Bruce still sputtering and panicking in their head, but he ignored him.

Tony put it in his pocket, and his smile seemed softer and happier, now. “Thank you both. Really.”

Hulk just nodded.

Then Clint poured a bucket of water on his head, and he chased him back into the ocean, giggling. He splashed at him, happy to be warm and happy and safe.

* * *

The next few days were strangely uneventful. Bruce wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but this was beginning to truly feel like a vacation. Everyone just lounged around and enjoyed the sun and each other’s company.

There was one eventful day when Bruce decided he’d give the full-dragon thing a go. To say it didn’t come as naturally to him as it did to Hulk would be an understatement. He could hear Tony laughing uncontrollably as he flew around like a drunk duck, until he crashed into the water. Hulk had to take over to swim them back to shore.

That was the last time he tried it, content to let Hulk do the flying and just watch.

The week was nearing its end, now, and Bruce was still a drakaina. He wasn’t pleased, but he forced himself not to panic. He’d keep calm until a full week had passed, then he’d consider looking for alternative ways to change back to normal.

His horns had stopped growing, finally. They were pretty large. Large enough that he definitely hit them against the headboard in his sleep, which left him with an annoying headache. Tony told him not to worry about the damage to the furniture when he’d sheepishly told him about it (they’d slept in different beds after that first night).

Bruce found it was getting harder and harder to keep from telling Tony that he was romantically interested in him. Especially after he’d gone down to Tony’s workshop at his behest, only to find him holding a pair of tail-accommodating slacks and somehow sporting grease stains on his forehead.

“I’m still trying to figure out the shirt situation,” Tony told him.

Bruce took the slacks gratefully. They weren’t made out of the stretchy material (they couldn’t be, or they’d be form fitting), and they helped him preserve a modicum of modesty. He really, really wanted to hug Tony. Or tell him how he felt, or give him the blueberries he’d found upstairs, which would have been the same thing, really.

Instead, Bruce placed a hand over Tony’s own and smiled. “Thank you.”

Tony beamed back.

He’d resolved to finally tell Tony how he felt. It was obvious he felt the same way, anyway. But for some reason, he still found himself hesitating. He reasoned it was because he was nervous Tony wasn’t as accepting of him being a _fucking dragon_ as he’d assured him he was. He resolved to wait until they were back at the Tower. He’d definitely tell him, then. Maybe. Probably.

Bruce found that it was becoming more difficult to ignore the little itch in his brain that told him to give Tony presents, though he could still repress that desire with ease. Ever since Hulk gave Tony a seashell, it seemed the floodgates had opened for that singular drakaina quirk. He found himself staring too long at anything blue. It didn’t even seem to matter if it was the same shade as the arc reactor, anymore. All of his teammates had so many blue things, why did they have so many blue things? It was ridiculous.

This was the longest amount of time any of the Avengers had had without being called to Assemble or being asked to complete something for SHIELD business. Bruce and Tony were also usually working on projects for SI, on top of additional scientific assignments from SHIELD. Being able to just hang out with Tony with no pressure from work was making it impossible for Bruce to deny his feelings. They watched movies together, ate together, did fun, stupid, potentially dangerous science experiments together, and it wasn’t that different from life in the Tower, but it also was.

Because here, Tony asked Bruce to help him into the water. He let him hold him when he began to panic and shake, because he was wrong, and it was too much, and he told him, “It’s been years, I should be able to fucking do this,” and clung to Bruce on the warm sand while he got his breathing back under control.

Here, Hulk had plenty of space to run and play and build sandcastles with the team, and Bruce could come back to himself half-buried in sand by Tony because he thought he was hilarious.

Here, JARVIS could let Bruce know he’d been sleepwalking when Bruce mused out loud about sandy footprints, and he could ask for help without hesitation. He was frightened, of course, scared he’d be in a vulnerable position and captured by the military. Or, that he or Hulk would accidentally hurt someone in their sleep. But he also knew deep down that he wasn’t alone. He trusted Tony to keep him safe.

JARVIS explained he’d tried to lock him in his room the first night it happened, but that had just caused Hulk to come out and sleep walk instead. A locked door wasn’t exactly going to stop a sleepwalking Hulk.

Bruce asked Tony to keep an eye on him tonight. JARVIS agreed to wake Tony up if he began sleepwalking so he could follow him. Tony reluctantly agreed to just follow him and keep his distance, just in case Bruce lashed out in his sleep. He didn’t exactly have the best dreams.

True to his word, Tony followed Bruce as he sleepwalked that night. Bruce wasn’t aware of it, but he was holding a bag of dehydrated blueberries and walking along the coastline. He walked for about a half an hour with Tony in tow, until he led them to a sea cave.

They both entered, first Bruce, then Tony, and kept to the sides of the cave where the sea didn’t reach. Further inside, the sea gave way completely to land. Bruce walked up to the little pile of trinkets he’d amassed and deposited the blueberries.

“Bruce?”

Still sleepwalking, Bruce turned around. “Hey, Tones,” he mumbled, speaking and acknowledging Tony’s presence for the first time.

“Hey, Big Guy. Why don’t we head back, hm?”

Bruce shook his head. “No, gotta stay with the blue things.”

“Why’s that?”

“They’re for you. The blue things. We should stay with them.” With that, Bruce settled down on the cave floor. He patted the space next to him, clearly inviting Tony to lay down with him, before closing his eyes and falling fully asleep.

* * *

When Bruce woke up, he was pressed against Tony’s back, an arm and a wing lying protectively across him. It took him several, long moments filled with slow blinks before he realized they were in a cave. The only light was from the arc reactor, which bathed the cavern in gentle blue. The nearby crashing of waves provided soothing noise, and Bruce was aware that there was a pool of water, likely leading out to the ocean, running through the center of the cave.

To his utter embarrassment, he realized there was a pile of blue objects next to them. Nat’s hairbrush, Steve’s blanket, Clint’s shirt, and a bag of blueberries sat amongst the respectable pile of trinkets.

There could be only one explanation. Despite fighting the impulse tooth and nail for days, he’d built a horde of gifts as a display for Tony in his sleep.

“You could have just asked me out, you know.”

Bruce had been knocked so off balance by this revelation, he didn’t notice when Tony sat up. He didn’t sound upset. A quick glance confirmed that he was smiling.

“I was…I…” He didn’t know what to say. It was pointless to deny his feelings, and while he’d wanted to tell Tony how he felt for some time, he had also wanted to wait until he was back to normal. Even now, he was worried Tony would reject him, and the drakaina thing only heightened that worry. He knew his fears were unfounded, but he couldn’t help it.

Tony’s clever fingers trailed over the plane of his cheek, effectively cutting off anything Bruce was going to say. Instead, he shivered.

Before Bruce could talk himself out of it, he kissed Tony hard. His body was still strange to him, but things seemed to settle into place as he drove his forked, alien tongue into Tony’s mouth and licked at him.

Tony’s enthusiastic hums and moans drove him on. By the time he pulled back to breathe, Tony was underneath him, arms pinned under Bruce’s own. Bruce’s chest heaved as he tried to calm down. A tall order when he was straddling the object of his affection.

Bruce forced himself to release Tony’s hands. He’d meant to push himself up into a sitting position, to apologize profusely, but Tony wasted no time in trailing a gentle hand up the back of his thigh. Bruce shivered again, a warm sensation growing in his chest. When Tony’s hand didn’t stop, instead continued over his ass and along his back, brushing up against his wings, the warm sensation culminated into a rumbling growl.

“God, Bruce,” Tony moaned. His hands skimmed the waistband of his stretchy pants. “Can I?”

Wetness pooled between Bruce’s thighs. It was enough to send a stab of panic through him as he remembered just how different his body was, right now. Shaking his head, he gently tugged at Tony’s pants. He could at least give Tony pleasure, if nothing else.

Tony lifted his hips obligingly, and then let out a strangled noise as Bruce’s preternaturally long tongue wrapped itself around his dick. It didn’t take long for Tony to fully harden, and then Bruce was carefully, so, so carefully, taking him into his mouth. His teeth were sharp, but only as much as human incisors. As long as he was careful, he wouldn’t hurt Tony.

He continued to lick and suck. Tony was thoroughly enjoying it, based on the noises he was making, and fuck, Bruce should have expected Tony to be loud and uninhibited in bed. He groaned and whined shamelessly, the noises echoing in the cave. Bruce own dick was aching, he was so wet, he was dripping, and he wanted nothing more than for Tony to be inside him right that very moment.

“Bruce, wait,” Tony uttered breathlessly.

Immediately, Bruce pulled away. He stared up at Tony with wide eyes. Had he hurt him? Was he having second thoughts? Was cave sex with his science-bro-turned-dragon-alien too strange for even Tony Stark?

Tony breathed hard for a few moments before sitting up. Two hands carefully cradled Bruce’s face, and Bruce couldn’t help but close his eyes and sigh.

“I don’t want to do this unless I can return the favor.” Tony’s tone didn’t leave room for argument. “We can wait until the dragon thing wears off, if that’s what you need.”

But Bruce was tired of waiting. He wanted this, he just didn’t know if Tony knew what he was getting into, despite reading the same information about drakaina as he had.

“It’s…it’s all different,” Bruce mumbled, eyes still closed. “My body. It’s…I’m…”

One of Tony’s hands moved to card through his hair, carefully avoiding the horns that now protruded proudly from atop his head.

“You have to know I don’t care about that. All I care about is that it’s you.”

Bruce forced his eyes open. Tony was leveling him with a searching, piercing stare. He looked so beautiful, illuminated by only the light in his chest, lips kiss-swollen and hair sticking every which way. He looked utterly debauched, and Bruce took a deep breath and nodded. He let his hand drift down to palm himself through his pants and let out a quiet groan at the much-desired friction.

“Please.”

Tony replied by replacing Bruce’s hand with his own, and Bruce was positive he must feel how damp his pants were. Tony didn’t say anything, though. Nor did he say anything about how small he must have felt against Tony’s hand. He just continued to stroke him through his clothes until Bruce was breathing hard and steadying himself by gripping Tony’s shoulders. He made sure to press gently, worried he would hurt Tony with his claws.

“Is this how you want to come?” Tony asked softly, genuinely.

Bruce struggled to answer. He was so close already, it was embarrassing. “I…this is… _Tony_ ,” he whined, clutching his shoulders desperately, then gently, then desperately again. Familiar heat pooled at the base of his spine, but it was also different. It wasn’t as centralized. His entire body hummed in anticipation.

“Yeah,” Tony breathed. “Yeah. It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

His orgasm ripped through him unexpectedly, made his toes curl and his limbs tingle as he felt it with his entire body.

Tony held him upright, and before he could do anything else, Bruce was kissing him with fervor. He didn’t feel sated, exactly. He felt good and loose, but he also felt like he could immediately go another round.

Oh. Perhaps he could.

His hesitation eased as he pulled away and saw pure adoration in Tony’s eyes. He really didn’t care that he was an alien dragon, he still wanted to be with him. Bruce felt a bit breathless in the face of such a realization. Warmth flooded him again, and he decided that he wanted to give all of himself to Tony. He didn’t want to hide. “I want you to take me,” he said sincerely, all embarrassment forgotten, because Tony’s ease and acceptance and confidence were contagious. Well, he was a little embarrassed at having phrased it like that.

Pulling away slightly, Tony stared at Bruce with serious eyes. “’Take you?’”

Coloring slightly, Bruce clarified, “Fuck me.”

Tony regarded him, brows still drawn. “Is there lube in here?”

“That’s uh, that’s not a problem. Right now,” Bruce admitted.

“You’re sure?”

He was sure. The fact that Tony was so thoroughly checking for consent only served to turn Bruce on further. “Yes.”

Tony stood up and walked away. For a moment, Bruce thought Tony was leaving and not coming back. His fears were unfounded, however, because Tony practically sprinted back over to him, almost tripping over his feet, the blue blanket trailing behind him.

Bruce fell back against the blanket Tony had laid down and unceremoniously stripped off his ruined pants. Fear and doubt crawled back into his throat now that he was laid bare, but he squashed it down. Besides, he didn’t have much time to dwell before Tony’s face was between his legs.

He sucked in a sharp breath as Tony licked near the base of his dick, kissed his thigh, then focused his tongue on his length until he was somehow hardening again. He was completely enveloped in wet heat as a careful finger entered him. The finger didn’t hurt, his natural wetness easing its way, but it also didn’t feel pleasurable, either. Bruce focused instead on how amazing Tony was at giving blowjobs. As Tony’s clever tongue circled the head, Bruce’s body instinctively clenched around the finger inside of him.

“Oh,” he breathed.

Tony pulled off, but his finger remained. He grinned up at him in the blue light before adding another.

Bruce’s brow furrowed in discomfort for only a moment, before Tony crooked his fingers and his toes curled in pleasure. A whine escaped his mouth before he could stop it.

“I take it that feels good,” Tony said smugly.

“Preliminary findings indicate yes,” Bruce managed, voice wrecked. “But I think we need to repeat the experiment.”

Suddenly, the fingers were gone, and Tony was settling over him, kissing him. “I love when you talk nerdy to me, Doctor Banner.”

Before Bruce could respond, Tony was fishing a condom out of his pants pocket. He rolled it on with practiced ease, and then lined himself up. “You’re still sure?”

Bruce just nodded.

“Bruce?”

He hadn’t even realized he’d closed his eyes until they were open, again. Swallowing hard, Bruce managed to say in a steady voice, “Yes. I’m sure.”

Then Tony pressed in, and Bruce was breathing slowly as his clawed hands fisted the blanket below him. It felt good and not nearly as strange as he’d thought it would. He wrapped his legs around Tony’s waist and pulled him impossibly closer.

“Okay. Okay.” Tony’s voice was strained.

Bruce’s hips bucked, urging Tony on.

“Oh, fuck.” Tony’s teeth bit down where Bruce’s neck met his shoulder. In response, Bruce clenched around him. “Give me a second, or this is gonna be over before it’s even started,” Tony whispered breathlessly into his shoulder.

Obligingly, Bruce closed his eyes and focused on staying still. He had tremendous self-control, but this was testing him. Everything in him screamed to move.

When Bruce didn’t think he could take it anymore, Tony began shallowly fucking him. He let out a long, low, moan in response. Having Tony inside of him like this just felt wonderful in a way he couldn’t quite articulate.

“You’re fucking gorgeous,” Tony panted. “Always gorgeous, but those scales…”

Bruce managed to glance down at himself, noticing for the first time the way his scales glittered in Tony’s light as he moved. His staring was interrupted by a claiming kiss.

Slowly, so slowly, Bruce felt that heat begin to build again. Then Tony wrapped an arm around Bruce’s torso to shift his hips up. Bruce threw his head back and let out an honest to God whine. The new angle had him panting. Instinctively, he reached for his dick, but his hand was intercepted. He watched, dazed, as Tony brought his hand to his lips and kissed him.

“I want this to last,” he explained. “If you come, that’ll be it for me.”

Sweat glistened off of his face, his chest, down onto the arc reactor. Bruce wanted to lick and kiss that light. He lifted himself up onto his elbows and did so with some difficulty, despite the impressive flexibility he’d obtained through yoga. The casing grazed his lips as Tony continued to move, and he relished Tony’s gasp and the way his rhythm stuttered.

“Fuck, Bruce, what did I just say?” Tony huffed a laugh. “You might not have a refractory period, but I have to wait in line if I want to get on this ride, again.”

It was Bruce’s turn to laugh. He’d shifted in order to kiss the reactor, so Tony wasn’t hitting that spot inside him on every thrust, anymore. It gave him a moment to recover. To appreciate what was happening, how beautiful Tony looked. How good he felt.

Of course, Tony quickly repositioned himself, and he was once again reduced to a bundle of nerves in the most gorgeous way. Tony’s rhythm was becoming erratic. Bruce could tell he wasn’t going to last much longer, either.

A hand wrapped around his dick, and Tony pumped him in time with his thrusts.

“Fuck,” Bruce gasped out.

“That’s the idea,” Tony muttered, brow furrowed, and Bruce rolled his eyes at Tony’s ability to be a sassy shit even on the brink of orgasm.

In his own extraordinary show of flexibility, Tony managed to lean down and kiss one of Bruce’s wings. It was all it took to send Bruce tumbling over the edge. He shuddered, clenching down around Tony as his orgasm once again rolled through his entire body, his back arching with the intensity of it.

Tony buried himself to the hilt and stilled, eyes screwed shut and mouth barely parted. Despite how dazed and warm he felt, Bruce couldn’t close his eyes. He couldn’t look away from Tony. He was stunning like this.

When Tony came back to himself, he gently settled down on top of Bruce, still inside him. They both just laid there, basking in the afterglow for some time. Eventually, though, Tony had to move to pull out.

Sighing, Tony laid back down on Bruce’s chest. A different kind of warmth spread through Bruce in response. He wrapped his arms around Tony, blatantly cuddling him. Later, they’d have to figure out how they were going to get this stuff back to the beach house, but for now, Bruce was content to just rest.

* * *

When Bruce woke up again, he didn’t mind the fact that he was still a drakaina. It was the first time he didn’t feel a sting of disappointment. Yes, it’d be nice to be back in the body that was familiar to him, but now that he wasn’t waiting to change back to he could confess his feelings, it didn’t feel so urgent.

He did mind that Tony wasn’t next to him, though. He followed the blue light filling the cave until he spotted Tony over by the pile of blue stuff he’d apparently brought here.

“So apparently that’s what I was doing during the sleepwalking,” he said with a yawn.

Tony just shot him a smile. “I’m kinda flattered. Also, we owe Hulk for being a great wingman.”

Bruce raised a brow.

“According to the book, if Hulk hadn’t given me that first gift, you probably could have ignored the impulse.”

“Hulk’s the reason we finally hooked up?” Bruce rubbed at his eyes. Damn, he really did owe the green guy.

He noticed Tony was grabbing things and stuffing what he could in his pockets. There really wasn’t much, so they’d be able to bring everything back in one trip. Bruce washed himself off using the pool of seawater, then slipped his shorts back on and went over to help.

“I uh, I don’t think Steve’s going to want his blanket back.” Bruce winced. Not only was it stained with bodily fluids, it was ripped in places where Bruce had been too rough with his claws.

Tony outright giggled. “I’ll buy him a new one.”

It was still nighttime when they left the cave. There was a full moon, thankfully, so they could easily see as they walked back to the house. They were silent, Bruce enjoying the simple act of being together.

“Hey, Bruce?”

Frowning at Tony’s tone, he tore his gaze away from the moon to look at him. His expression was carefully blank, and Bruce knew him well enough to tell he was nervous.

“That wasn’t…I know the book says the mating season thing just makes you want to give gifts, but, you don’t regret anything now, do you? I didn’t take advantage, right?”

Bruce stopped walking. Tony continued for a step, before he realized and turned around.

“No,” Bruce told him sincerely. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that everything they’d done had been because he’d wanted it, not because of some mating season or drakaina instinct. “That was all me. I’ve thought about that, us, for a long time.” With a half-smile, he amended, “It wasn’t exactly like that in my fantasies, but close enough.”

Relief visibly flooded through Tony. “Can I kiss you?”

Feeling warm all over again, Bruce smiled fully. “You don’t even have to ask, though it’s appreciated.”

Tony leaned in and placed a surprisingly chaste kiss against his lips. Bruce wished he could wrap his arms around him, but they were both carrying things. Besides, he had a feeling they were both wont to get carried away, and while sex on the beach was romantic as a concept, Bruce didn’t relish the idea of public sex. Or getting sand in places sand definitely shouldn’t be, for that matter.

They broke away too soon and finished the walk back to the beach house. Everyone was asleep or in their rooms, thankfully, so they were able to sneak back to Tony’s room undisturbed. They snuggled into bed together without talking about it and went back to sleep.

* * *

It was actually morning this time. Bruce could tell, because sunlight was filtering in through the curtains. He shifted onto his back. It was comfortable, nothing was squished or in need of adjusting. That’s how he realized he was back in his own body.

“Oh, thank God,” he muttered, scraping a hand down his face. He’d really, really missed being able to wear shirts.

 _“Hulk liked being a dragon,”_ Hulk pouted.

 _“I know, bud.”_ Bruce would have to talk to Tony about building Hulk something that let him fly. He didn’t want to be so presumptuous as to ask him to build Hulk a suit, but he was sure they could come up with something equally affective.

“You’re back to normal,” Tony mumbled. He’d drooled in his sleep, again.

Bruce just smiled and tapped the corner of his own lip. “You’ve got a little…”

Tony quickly wiped at his mouth with a hand. “Gross.”

“Kinda cute.”

“Really?” Tony’s brows raised. “You think my drooling is ‘cute?’”

“I think it’s endearing, and I like seeing you in human and domestic moments.” Bruce forced himself to stop talking.

“God, you’re adorable.”

Bruce’s face burned. “Shut up.” He pulled Tony in for a kiss, interrupting his reply of, “Make me.”

“Think I owe you a blowjob,” Bruce breathed when he pulled back.

“Think it’s your turn to ‘take me,’” Tony countered, laughing a little.

Bruce groaned. “Are you ever going to let me live that down?”

“What’s to live down? It was adorable.”

“I’ll show you adorable.” Bruce straddled him, pinning his hands over his head, and he felt warm all over as he remembered how he’d done this in the cave.

“Well, I definitely do need lube, so if you could grab that out of the bedside drawer before you ‘take me’—”

Bruce nipped playfully at his neck, affectively shutting him up. “I take it you like me even when I’m not a dragon, then,” Bruce teased.

“I like _you_. Period.”

Something very much like love swelled in Bruce’s chest. He decided the lube could wait. He was going to kiss this infuriatingly wonderful man until their lips were numb. He couldn’t believe he’d waited so long to tell Tony how he felt.

As he and Tony got lost in each other, Bruce made a mental note to get Hulk a gift. He really was a great wingman.

He and Tony broke apart for air. There were words on the tip of Bruce’s tongue, dangerous, true words, that almost spilled from his mouth. They were stymied by the sound of a door opening and shutting.

“Oh, there’s my…what the hell?” Steve’s muffled and traumatized voice floated through the walls.

Bruce buried his face against Tony’s neck, while Tony began laughing hysterically. In a matter of moments, Clint’s laughter could be heard as well. Even _Hulk_ began roaring with mirth in their mind, Bruce’s embarrassment waking him back up enough to investigate.

He was never going to live this down.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated.


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